Featuring Katherine Malone-France, Vice President for Historic Sites at National Trust for Historic Preservation and Osborne Mackie, author and antiques & fine arts expert
James Hoban's life is a memorable Irish-American success story. In his boyhood he learned the craft of carpenter and wheelwright, and became an architect by profession and a builder by trade. Hoban came to America with high ambitions, and designed and erected many buildings; but what keeps his name alive today arises from one special commission—he was the architect of
In 1816, Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr. and his wife Susan moved to the nascent capital city of Washington, D.C. With the prize money he received from his naval feats, Decatur purchased the entire city block on the northwest corner of today’s Lafayette Square. The Decaturs commissioned Benjamin Henry Latrobe, one of America’s first professional architects, to design and buil
For more than a century, thousands of Americans have gathered in Lafayette Park across from the White House to exercise their First Amendment rights and bring awareness to their respective causes. In this collection, explore how individuals, groups, and organizations historically used this space to advocate equality, protest policy, and demand action from the neighborhood's most powerful occupant.
Stewart D. McLaurin serves as president of the White House Historical Association, founded by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy more than sixty years ago to share and preserve the rich history of the White House. In his nine years as leader of the private nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, Stewart has expanded the Association’s cultural and educational programming through award-winning books, popular vi
Rodrigo Bollat Montenegro is the founding principal at RBM Architecture & Design, a firm that focuses on custom residential design, community urban planning, and the continuing adaptation of traditional values in architecture and urbanism in our modern world. His current work ranges from new residences in Guatemala and Costa Rica and custom office designs, to the revitalization of a historic
The Center for Digital Research in the Humanities at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln “Civil War Washington” website has posted the 1862 Emancipation Petitions, providing widespread access to these primary documents. To meet the requirements of the D.C. Compensated Emancipation Act of 1862, slave owners filed a petition with the District government that stated their loyalty to the Union, listed the number and